Natural hazards · Sylvania

Sylvania, PA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sylvania comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 9 claims here since 1994.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Sylvania?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sylvania to be higher than in 75% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding90%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Sylvania faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

90% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Sylvania flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Sylvania, from FEMA’s records.

9paid claims since 1994

$138Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19942026

Biggest named events

Tropical Storm Lee: 2 claims, $59K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Sylvania isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Bradford County.

Disasters that hit Sylvania

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Bradford County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Sylvania itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into SylvaniaDeclared for Bradford County only

Bradford County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Sylvania is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Sylvania’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Borough of Sylvania. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.